Thursday, June 13, 2013

In memoriam: Rituparno Ghosh

You are what you are.The demise of the director, actor, activist and one of the most creative people in recent times, Rituparno Ghosh, is not just another death. His death is the death of creativity, death of impeccable insightful peek into human psyche and death of poetry in prose.

Rituparno's life did not read like a poetry though. There was no rhetoric behind his conspicuous film and fashion statements. With all that pricks hard and deep, he finally got to live his life in his own terms. He may have critics that were more interested in his personal orientation than in his works, there may have been people who would look at him with aghast, there may have those who would demean him as manipulative, fame hungry, cross-dresser. But, at the same time, there also have been people who would continue to shed tears, stay still and stay speechless, with a dominating sense of deja vu and overwhelming awe after watching the new wave films. These are the same people who did not falter being critical every now and then.

"Chitrangada", the last film of Rituparno Ghosh, is essentially an befitting answer to all the askance. The other side? It has been an inspiration to many who share similar sexual orientation. He truly has lived his life like he has always wished to. However less a time, he has gotten to live his live in his own terms -  celebrating his sexuality with conviction, finally. This should be the only gratifying thing. How else, can we live without being part of his cinematic frames? One film per year - enough impetus for the whole year. Now, only shuffling through the ever new old films. Rituparno Ghosh we are never going to stop missing you.

RIP Rituparno Ghosh




2 comments:

  1. Very aptly written.
    Rituparno ghosh definitely leaves behind a connoisseur’s collection with his immaculately crafted films in Bengali, Hindi & English.
    A Kolkata based Bengali film maker who also seemed to find ready acceptance among the biggest stars of mainstream Hindi cinema, which itself was very rare.
    I personally have always looked forward to his films.
    Thanks.



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  2. That is one thing that needed mentioning as well. I am glad you pointed out. 'Connoisseur's collection' is just apt an expression for his body of works.

    Thanks for enriching this post.

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